Sunday, January 29, 2006

This Comic Was Good - Godland #7

I do not know if I ever have mentioned it before (lord knows I seem to talk about it enough), but I have a real soft spot for comics that make Bob Dylan references. I loves me the Bob Dylan references. Well, Godland #7 had some heavy duty Dylan mentions, so even if it wasn't a good comic, it would still have a soft spot in my heart (I still remember fondly this Moench issue of Catwoman where Selina says, "If you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose," and that era of Catwoman was awwwwwwwwful). However, luckily, Godland #7 was good anyways.

While clearly the Jack Kirby influence is there in Tom Scioli's art, I often think that the more "Silver Age" feel to the book is the sheer quantity of story in each issue of Godland. Each issue generally has about five-six plots all going on at once, and Casey handles the transitions between them all quite well.

What I also like is that the "Recap Page" on the inside front cover is extremely limited in information. This is because Joe Casey doesn't need you to have paragraphs of info to pick up on what is going on in Godland. A basic description of the book (similar to those little descriptions Marvel used to do on the first pages of their comics in the 90s...you know, a little description and then "Stan Lee Presents...") and then a roll call. That's it, and then right into the story. It's a bold move that Casey backs up with his highly accessible story.

The hero of the book, Adam Archer, has cosmic powers, and Casey and Scioli make sure to ratchet up the cosmic "trippy" aspects of the books. The site of cosmic rain falling on New York is very striking. In addition, the way that Archer defeats the bad guys is interesting, as is the fallout of the event. Very "Ditko Spider-Man." Good stuff.

The highlight of the issue (and, in my opinion, the series so far) is the interaction between Archer's two biggest villains, Nickelhead and Basil Cronus. On their own, each villain is very interesting. Together, playing off each other, especially with Cronus just being a disembodied head carried around by Nickelhead? Brilliant.

And the fact that a scene is played out as Nickelhead sings along with "Subterranean Homesick Blues"?